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No Way Out (2008)
No Way Out (2008) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It took place on February 17, 2008, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was the tenth event under the No Way Out name and featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands. The main match on the Raw brand was an Elimination Chamber match to determine the number one contender for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XXIV. Triple H won the match after last eliminating Jeff Hardy. The predominant match on the SmackDown brand was Edge versus Rey Mysterio for the World Heavyweight Championship, in which Edge won after spearing Mysterio in mid-air. The primary match on the ECW brand was Chavo Guerrero versus CM Punk for the ECW Championship. Guerrero won the match and retained the title after pinning Punk following a frog splash. The predominant match on the Raw brand was Randy Orton versus John Cena for the WWE Championship, which Cena won after Orton disqualified himself. The featured match on the undercard was an Elimination Chamber match to determine the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XXIV, which was won by The Undertaker. Presented by THQ's Frontlines: Fuel of War, the event had 329,000 buys, up on the No Way Out 2007 figure of 218,000 buys. Storylines The event featured six professional wrestling matches on the card. The event starred wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown and ECW brands – storyline expansions of the promotion where employees are assigned to wrestling brands under the WWE banner. Wrestlers portrayed either a villainous or fan favorite gimmick, as they followed a series of events which generally built tension, leading to a wrestling match. The main feud on the Raw brand heading into No Way Out was between Randy Orton and John Cena, with the two battling over the WWE Championship. At the Royal Rumble, Cena made a surprise return, entering as the thirtieth participant. Cena went on to win the match after last eliminating Triple H. The following night on Raw, Cena told Orton that he couldn't wait until WrestleMania and decided to cash in his title opportunity at No Way Out, which Orton accepted. The main feud on the SmackDown brand was between Rey Mysterio and Edge, with the two battling over the World Heavyweight Championship. Mysterio won a Beat the Clock Challenge on the January 4 episode of SmackDown, defeating Edge with 90 seconds to go, to earn a title shot at Royal Rumble. At the Royal Rumble, Edge retained the title after his on-screen lover, SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero, interfered by receiving an attack for Edge by Mysterio. This distracted Mysterio and allowed Edge to Spear Mysterio in mid-air, which allowed Edge to retain his title. On the February 1 episode of SmackDown, Theodore Long, who was acting as the General Manager due to Guerrero's scripted injury, assigned a rematch between the two at No Way Out. Mysterio was injured at a live event overseas on February 13, but still chose to compete in his match. The main feud on the ECW brand was between CM Punk and Chavo Guerrero, with the two battling over the ECW Championship. On the January 22 episode of ECW, Guerrero defeated Punk to win the title after Edge interfered. The following week on ECW, while Guerrero was celebrating his victory, Punk, dressed as a Mexican guitarist, hit Guerrero with his guitar. On the February 5 episode of ECW, Punk demanded a rematch against Guerrero for the title. Guerrero accepted the challenge for No Way Out. On the same night, ECW General Manager Armando Estrada scheduled the first ever Gulf of Mexico match, in which Punk defeated Guerrero. Other matches on the Raw brand included an Elimination Chamber match, where the winner would receive a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania, and a "Career Threatening" match between Mr. Kennedy and Ric Flair, where Flair would be forced to retire from wrestling if he loses. The other match on the SmackDown brand was another Elimination Chamber match, where the winner would receive a World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania. Aftermath The following night on Raw, John Cena demanded a rematch for the WWE Championship. General Manager William Regal made a non-title match for later that night between Orton and Cena, where if Cena won, he would be included in the WWE Championship match at WrestleMania XXIV. Triple H was assigned to be the guest referee. Cena won the match after executing an FU to Orton, thus changing the match at WrestleMania to a Triple Threat match. After the match, Triple H delivered a Pedigree to both Orton and Cena. At WrestleMania, Orton defeated both Cena and Triple H to retain the WWE Championship. Also on this episode of Raw, Big Show challenged Floyd Mayweather, Jr. to a match, which Mayweather accepted. The match was announced the following week to be scheduled for WrestleMania. The two met at WrestleMania, in a No Disqualification match, which Mayweather won. The feud between Rey Mysterio and Edge ended when, on the February 22 episode of SmackDown, Mysterio said that he needed surgery, and would be out of action for seven weeks. Edge then entered a feud with The Undertaker, the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. Edge and Undertaker met in a World title match at WrestleMania, in which Undertaker defeated Edge to capture the World title, and to keep his undefeated streak intact. On the February 25 episode of Raw, 2008 WWE Hall of Fame Inductee Ric Flair challenged Shawn Michaels to a match at WrestleMania. Michaels accepted with reluctance, knowing that due to a previous announcement from WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon the next match Flair loses would result in a forced retirement for Flair. Flair also said that "it would be an honor for him to retire at the hands of Shawn Michaels". At WrestleMania, Michaels defeated Flair, and Flair retired from WWE. A Triple Threat match was made on ECW, where the winner would be the number one contender for the ECW Championship between CM Punk, Shelton Benjamin and Elijah Burke. Punk went on to win the match. One week later, on the March 4 episode of ECW, Punk fought Guerrero for the title, but lost the match. Guerrero, however, lost the ECW title to Kane in just 11 seconds at WrestleMania XXIV. Results Other on-screen personnel See also * List of WWE pay-per-view events * No Way Out Category:No Way Out Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events Category:2008 Pay-Per-View Events